Chapter 13: Running the Library

"SPIKE!" Twilight shouted from her bedroom, her shout being met with silence. Oh yeah, he's over at Rarity's to make nice with her parents Twilight remembered as she climbed out of bed. The night before Spike had popped in and told Twilight that he was invited to her parents place for breakfast, either so they could judge him or congratulate him and Rarity. Knowing that he wouldn't be home until the afternoon Twilight made her way downstairs to make herself breakfast, only to be interrupted by the smell of hay bacon and eggs.

"Hello?" Twilight called out, not expecting anypony to be in her kitchen before she had woken up.

"Hiya Twilight!" Pinkie shouted happily as she bounced out of the kitchen with a plate of hay bacon on her flank and a plate of eggs on her mane. With one swift movement she threw the plates at the table in the middle of the library, landing them perfectly in the middle.

"Pinkie, what are you doing here?" Twilight asked as she watched the pink mare thrown plates and forks over to the table, landing them in the perfect positions.

"I knew Spike was away so I thought I'd make you a really big breakfast," Pinkie said as she walked over and poked Twilight's stomach, "You're eating for two now after all!" Twilight groaned as she remembered why she had been home alone for most of the night before. She would have stayed and partied, but it would have just been too awkward for her, with the baby of an evil king growing inside her. Twilight let out a quiet sigh before heading to the table, where Pinkie was already scarfing down the food like a madmare.

"You know if you keep eating like that I'll have nothing to eat" Twilight said jokingly, but Pinkie froze when she heard it. Pinkie looked down at her hoof, which had three strips of hay bacon in it, and then at the plate, which had twenty pieces left on it. After some quick thought Pinkie ate what was in her hoof and then waited for Twilight to get some food.

"Sorry for eating so much Twilight" Pinkie said sadly, making Twilight smile slightly.

"It's ok Pinkie, but remember, I'm eating for two now" Twilight said in an attempt to make light of her situation, but her she ended up saying it sadly. Pinkie caught on to it and trotted over to Twilight's side, putting a hoof on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, but it didn't work. Instead the dam broke and Twilight began to cry.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Twilight whimpered, "What if this foal ends up like it's father?"

"It won't be like that Twilight" Pinkie said calmly, but her words didn't reach Twilight.

"What if I'm a terrible mother and it hates me?" Twilight cried, "What if it decides the run away because it won't have a father?" Pinkie quickly turned Twilight to face her and gave her a giant hug, calming her down quickly. They sat there in a hug for a few minutes until Pinkie let go, having seen the clock.

"Sorry Twilight, but I have to get to work now" Pinkie said sadly, "Rainbow said she would stop in when she was done with her work"

"Okay, thank you Pinkie" Twilight said with a sad smile, making Pinkie's mood pick up ever so slightly. Once the pink party pony had left Twilight sat down to eat, suddenly discovering that she was starving, and within minutes the rest of the hay bacon and all of the eggs were gone. After the dishes were cleaned up Twilight got ready to run the library all by herself for the first time in ages.

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"Hey egghead, you alive over there?" Rainbow asked as she poked Twilight with a book, being met by a loud groan from Twilight. Rainbow forgot to show up right after work and instead went to nap on her favourite cloud, only waking up a few minutes ago. During her nap Twilight was swamped by ponies with long overdue books and whom also wanted to take out new books. Once the rush had died down Twilight collapsed into the seat, nearly passing out completely.

"Ugh..." Twilight moaned as she lifted her head to look at Rainbow, smiling weakly as she did. Rainbow's face dropped when she looked at Twilight's sorry state.

"Sorry for not showing up earlier, I got distracted" Rainbow apologized, but Twilight just waved her off.

"It's ok, I'm just exhausted" Twilight said humbly, but a sudden pain in her stomach made her grunt. Rainbow quickly flew into her friends face, holding up as she tried to faint. She shook Twilight slightly to try and wake her up, but she didn't open her eyes. Rainbow started to worry and picked her up so she could fly her to her bedroom. Once Twilight was in her bed Rainbow flew away from the library, looking for one of her other friends to come help her with Twilight.

"Urgh..." Twilight moaned after Rainbow left the library, having come to after realizing she was in her bed. She tried to sit up but felt a sharp pain in her stomach, forcing her to lay back down. After a while she felt her stomach growl, and she laughed quietly to herself. She had fainted because she ate too much food that morning, and now she was feeling the consequences of it.

"Twilight, are you home?" Spike said from downstairs as he opened the door, finding her absence from the main floor to be very odd. Twilight tried to call out to him, but all that came out was a weird noise that sounded like a dog growling mixed with a cat's meow. Spike quickly made his way up to Twilight's room, the odd noise giving him a feeling that Twilight wasn't doing ok.

"Twilight, are you okay?" Spike asked quickly as he ran to her bedside.

"Oh, just a small stomach ache" Twilight laughed, cringing as the pain shot through her again. Spike looked at her worriedly for a moment before letting out a loud sigh.

"Okay, I'll go clean up the library, shout if you need anything" Spike said as he walked away, giving Twilight one more worried look before he shut the door. As he went about his business Twilight heard Rainbow Dash come back, being followed by Applejack, and the two of them questioned him about Twilight. After around fifteen minutes they calmed down, believing she was in good hooves with Spike, so they said goodbye and went on their own ways. As the sun began to set in her window Twilight closed her eyes, falling asleep in her own bed for the second time in nearly half a year, feeling as though she had never left.